Hello! Happy New year...almost ;-)

Hello Everyone,

Well Christmas was a blast! It was very different from any other year. On Christmas during the day I was on a division with one of the sisters in my area. It was really fun to spend time with her and to get to know her. Her name is Sister Benavidez, shes from Bolivia. She is a great example of a dedicated missionary, she talked to EVERYONE we came in contact with and talked to them about he Church and about Jesus Christ. She was also very humble and sought for ways to be better and to improve. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to serve as a sister training leader and to learn from all these wonderful sisters. When I got back from the division we went to one of our recent converts houses and we sang Christmas Hymns for him and shared our testimonies about Christ then we gave him presents to give to his grandchildren for Christmas. I loved that. The gift of giving is the best gift there is because what you receive is the assurance of Gods love for you and for the person you are serving. I know I will never forget this Christmas. Christmas eve night we went to a members house who wanted to make Christmas dinner for us. It was so great! The sister is such a good cook! she made us turkey, pork, fruit salad, rice and salad. it was so good! then she made us a peach tart desert thing that was perfect! It also rained like crazy! not really snow but it works for me :) The next day we just kind of relaxed and got to skype our families! which was the best Christmas present there could ever be. I loved talking to them and seeing their beautiful faces! It was a little hard to say goodbye but we get to see each other in just six more months :)

Well with Christmas and new years this week was kind of slow in the aspect of missionary work and the next week will kind of be slow too because everyone is out of town. Today we get to do another division with another set of sisters, so that should be fun. But sister Barrett and I will be back together for New Years :) yay :) Well I love you all and I miss you! Thank you so much!
 Love,
 Shelby

Shelby & her companion Sister Barrett from Texas :-) and two other Sisters

Missionary Training Leaders Conference in Cuiaba with President & Sister Reber

Lunch!

Shelby's Christmas in Brazil! Feliz Natal!

Feliz Natal!!

Hello Everyone! Feliz Natal!

I hope you all realize how much I love you all... Sister Barrett and I had to hike through a tempest just to get to the computer place! It is raining and super windy... and my umbrella broke.... but all is well, I have my rain boots and a warm feeling in my heart because its CHRISTMAS!! I know Heavenly Father is answering his prayers in his own way (I've been praying for snow). 

This last week went by so so fast! I guess when your having fun and enjoying yourself the time goes by super quickly. We had our Christmas conference last week with President and Sister Reber. I gave my training on exact obedience and it went pretty well! I only stumbled over a few words. The conference was a blast. A sister from our ward made lunch for everyone and it was delicious. She even made turkey! We also did skits and were able to just talk to one another and relax. directly after the conference Sister Barrett and I had a division with Sister Oliveira and Sister Zea. Sister Olivera went with me back to my area and Sister Barrett went with Sister Zea to her area. Divisions are only for 48 hours but it sure was fun to be with Sister Oliveira for a little bit (she was one of the sisters that I lived with while I was serving in Lucas) I learned so much from her and had a lot of fun with her. She has such a wonderful sweet spirit and I love being near her. You can tell her only desire is to please Heavenly Father and no one else. She is a very valiant missionary. Today we have another division to go on and this time ill be leaving my area to go stay with another sister in her area, I hope that everything goes well and that I learn more and that I'm able to help out :) This week for Christmas we are going to dinner at one of our members houses for Christmas eve. She has a lot of things planned and we are all very excited. Then the 25th we get a day off, and get to skype our families :) wow I cant believe its that time again! Its such a pleasure to be on my mission during this time of year,  I feel the savior and his nearness as we help his children. I'm so thankful for all the blessings that I have in my life, especially the opportunity to serve this mission. I have learned so much. Well I love you all and I miss you! I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas!
Love,

 Shelby

Busy Bee!

Hello Everyone,

Well this week went by so so fast! When your busy (and believe me when your a leader you are so busy!) the time just flies. Sister Barrett and I had tons of meetings and a division with another set of sisters (because were sister training leaders, we divide with the other sisters to help them with any difficulties they may have). First we had our leadership meeting with president Reber and that was pretty cool. We were able to learn a lot from him and others who participated. We also participated in two zone meetings and gave trainings in them. One training we talked about our responsibility to help the people in our area feel Heavenly Fathers love. In the other we talked about the importance of being friends with your companion and working in unity so you can invite the spirit into your work. It was a little nerve racking but it was fun when it was over :). Sister Barrett and I also get to give a training in the Christmas conference, in which I will be talking about obedience. On missions Exact obedience is a pretty big deal, I had never really thought about it that much before my mission but I know that its so important, we have to do what Heavenly Father has asked us to do if we want his help. A lot of missionaries think that some rules really aren't that important because they don't hurt anyone if they break them. I admit that I had those thoughts before and that's when I found a talk called temple standard. It talks about how temples are built to perfection and even if there is something wrong that is seemingly undetectable it is replaced, or fixed. The speaker asked why these seemingly undetectable flaws were so important? then he said the temples or in my case my mission is for us to help us but ultimately the temple is the house of God, my mission is Gods time and God is perfect. When we are obedient, even with the seemingly unimportant things we are showing our love and respect for God.

Also this week We did a division with the two sisters that live in the house with us, Sister Andrade (from Sao Paulo) and Sister Haullpa (from Peru). Sister Barrett went with Sister Haullpa and I went with Sister Andrade. Its really neat because when I received this calling I started to feel more love for the other sisters and started to know how to help them but in the division I felt such a love for sister Andrade and Heavenly Father helped me and guided me to know what to say to help her. We became such good friends and really connected. I'm so happy to be able to be back in a house with four Sisters and to be such great friends with all of them. Sister Barrett haven't really had that much time to be able to work in our own area but Heavenly Father has been blessing our area because were giving our all to help the sisters and give trainings. We are working with a couple that are absolutely amazing, the wife Tania is a member but her husband, marcio is inactive, but because someone cared enough to be interested in him and figure out what he loves to do, he's coming back into activity. They discovered that he loves to sing, so through the ward choir he has formed friendships in the church and is letting us teach him. We taught them about Eternal marriage and it was so wonderful! Tania bore such a powerful testimony of her desires to go to the temple with marcio and expressed such a love for him, we all ended up crying, and the result, Marcio came to Church the next day! Another man were working with is named Valmir. He is a recent convert and is honestly one of my favorite people. His wife doesn't like the Church and has stopped listening to the lessons but valmir has continued to learn and grow despite the difficulties with his wife. One thing I love about Tania and about Valmir is that they are so so patient and so happy even when things are so difficult around them. I know that Heavenly Father is walking beside them taking them by the hand, just like he does with all of us. I know he knows us perfectly and he loves us. Well I'm going to have to go now but I love you all! Thank you for the prayers :)

Love,

Shelby

PS. Lina was baptized yesterday! Sister Chile and Sister Pence (the sister who replaced me in coopahradio) worked with her to quite smoking and now she's a member of the Church! :)

Hello all!

Hello everyone :)

So im doing great! My new area is called Jardim Irma, it means sister garden, and its wonderful :) Im doing so well with sister Barrett! She is such a great missionary and im learning so much from her. We have alot of fun but work really hard. We have a baptismal date for the 20th of December. His name is Cloudinea, he is 26 years old and has a two year old son. He was taught by the sisters who were here before but then he started to work and they wernt able to see him anymore, but he kept his book of mormon and has been reading it every moment he can ever since. We started to teach him again this past week and he accepted a baptism date! I love being able to be a tool in Heavenly Father hands to help his children feel of his love and come unto him. Sister Barrett and I  have seen so many little miracles this week becuase of our hard work and planning. I love being a missionary. I love wearing the name of Jesus Christ over my heart, for all to see, it sure brings alot of condemnation but at the same time many recognize its significance. This week we have put together a christmas message to share with families. The chruch has put out a really cool 2 min video thats called He is the Gift. If you havnt watched it go look it up on youtube. it brings such a special spirit into your heart and you really recognize the real reason for the season during christmas. Im so thankful that Heavenly Father is aware of each one of us. He knows us better than we know ourselves and his purpose and plan is to bring us all back to live in his presence. This is what we preach everyday, Christs love is what we proclaim to all those wandering in confusing and dark paths. His invitation is simple, come unto him and you will find peace in your heart and soul. Jesus is the Christ, he lived. and he died for us. Im honored to be his missionary. I love you all and Thank you so much for your prayers and support! 

Love 

Shelby

Transferred!

Hello Everyone,

Well very big news from me. three things :) Thing number one: I'm being transferred! I'm staying in the big city of Campo Grande but I'll be in another area, I'm not really sure what its called yet but when I figure it out ill let y'all know. Thing number two: Ill be companions with Sister Barrett!!!!! Yay! She was with me in the MTC and we are very good friends, I'm very excited to be able to work with her. Think number Three: I've been called to be a sister Training leader. this means that I along with Sister Barrett will be in charge of taking care of the other sisters in our area and will be going on divisions with them and helping them. I am very nervous to say the very least, but I hope that I will be able to get it down and love it :) I know that who the lord calls he qualifies, and if he feels like I'm ready for this then I will trust in his judgment. Well this last week has been extremely rainy! I would just like to say that I love my rain boots! and I have bought an umbrella. We had two miracles happen! miracle number one Lina came to Church! miracle number two, so did Elidetch! yay! it was so cool. One of the brothers in our ward offered to go and help us pick them up. When we got to Linas house we were about five minuets late and when we got there she was in her best clothes and she started yelling at us telling us how late we were and that she was about ready to go to her cousins sons house on the other side of the city but now that were here shell come with us to Church. I seriously love this woman. I'm so sad to be leaving my investigators here, but I know that their in good hands with sister Chile and her new companion Sister Pence. well that's all for this week, sorry were its short, its always kind of hard to get everything done around transfer time. I love you all and I hope that you have a great week :) Thank you for the prayers :)
Love always,
Shelby